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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: March 2025 Expires: March 2027

Operation Shoestring

Standards Not Met
Standards Not Met
6 7 18
(601) 353-6336
1711 Bailey Avenue
Jackson, MS, 39203
https://operationshoestring.org
📄 Full Report 🖨️ Print 📋 BBB Charity Standards

Standards For Charity Accountability

Governance

  1. Board Oversight
  2. Board Size
  3. Board Meetings
  4. Board Compensation
  5. Conflict of Interest

Measuring Effectiveness

  1. Effectiveness Policy
  2. Effectiveness Report

Finances

  1. Program Expenses
  2. Fundraising Expenses
  3. Accumulating Funds
  4. Audit Report
  5. Detailed Expense Breakdown
  6. Accurate Expense Reporting
  7. Budget Plan

Fundraising & Info

  1. Truthful Materials
  2. Annual Report
  3. Website Disclosures
  4. Donor Privacy
  5. Cause Marketing Disclosures
  6. Complaints

Operation Shoestring does not meet the following 3 Standards for Charity Accountability:

Standard 6 (Board Policy on Effectiveness)
Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

OS does not meet this Standard because:

  • The organization's effectiveness assessment policy does not specify that this assessment will take place at least once every two years.

Standard 7 (Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness)
Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

OS does not meet this Standard because:

  • The organization has not completed an effectiveness assessment in the last two years.

Standard 18 (Privacy for Written Appeals & Internet Privacy)
Address privacy concerns of donors by (a) providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (e.g., such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, (b) providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors (i) what information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used, (ii) how to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections, (iii) how to inform the charity (e.g., a check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and (iv) what security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.

OS does not meet this Standard because:

Operation Shoestring meets the remaining 17 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:
"to invest in the hearts and minds of our children and their families, to promote health and self-sufficiency, and faithfully extend the hand of hope and opportunity to empower the needy, uplift neighborhoods and the larger community, and brighten the future for us all."

Year, State Incorporated:
1968, MS

Operation Shoestring (OS) reports that it provides year-round academic, social, and emotional support to children in central Jackson, MS. The organization's Project Rise program supports students pre-K through eighth grade via afterschool and summer programs. OS provides resources to enrolled families about financial literacy and health education workshops and connects them to other clinical and supportive services. In 2023, the organization’s summer camp reached 168 children from 128 families.

For the year ended July 31, 2023, Operation Shoestring's program expenses were:

Program services: $1,727,739

Total Program Expenses: $1,727,739

Chief Executive
Robert Langford, Executive Director

Compensation*
$153,383

Chair of the Board
Alicia Netterville, JD

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation
Principal, Acclivity Strategies

Board Size
16

Paid Staff Size
20

*2022 compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Grant proposals, Internet, Direct mail appeals, Special events

Fundraising costs were 16% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $1,376,699, are donations received as a result of fundraising activities.)

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

The following information is based on Operation Shoestring's audited financial statements for the year ended July 31, 2023.

Source of Funds
Grants and contracts $641,532
Gain on sale of assets $200
Investment return, net $13,379
Rental income $30,000
Interest income $17,268
In-kind contributions $131,147
Contributions $604,020
Total Income $1,437,546

Programs: 76% Fundraising: 10% Administrative: 14%

Total Income $1,437,546
Total expenses: $2,258,909
  Program expenses $1,727,739
  Fundraising expenses $217,154
  Administrative expenses $314,016
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $-821,363
Beginning Net Assets $6,569,161
Other Changes In Net Assets $0
Ending Net Assets $5,747,798
Total Liabilities $69,116
Total Assets $5,816,914

Note: According to the organization's audited financial statements for the year ended July 31, 2023, OS received in-kind contributions totaling $131,147 in the form of facilities ($119,565) and other ($11,582).

An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

This report is not to be used for fundraising or promotional purposes.

RELATED CONTENT

Report completed by:
BBB Wise Giving Alliance